Game delays make Wii U’s post-launch lineup look even worse

Players will have to wait longer for Pikmin, Wario, and more.

Back when Nintendo first announced its "launch window" lineup of games that would be available for the Wii U by March 31, we were decidedly unimpressed. The list was filled with warmed-over ports and uninspiring shovelware. Today however, that list got even less impressive, as Nintendo announced a few of the most anticipated games for the system won't be out until April at the earliest.

Exploration game Pikmin 3, mini-game collection Game & Wario, action title The Wonderful 101, and fitness update Wii Fit U will now arrive in "the first half of the year" according to Nintendo. All of these games were originally supposed to hit stores before March 31, but they aren't listed as "Q1" releases in Nintendo's latest plan.

The release calendar isn't totally barren for Wii U owners in the coming months. The impressive 2D platformer Rayman Legends is due on February 26, and Traveller's Tales' fun-looking, family-friendly adventure Lego City Undercover is coming on March 18. The system is also getting versions of Ron Gilbert adventure The Cave and first-person shooter Alien: Colonial Marines around the same time as other systems, not to mention intriguing, downloadable indie side-scrollers like Bit.Trip Runner 2 and Toki Tori 2.

But the remainder of the Wii U's first-quarter lineup isn't very inspiring. Need for Speed: Most Wanted, The Amazing Spider-Man,Zen Pinball 2, and Monster Hunter 3 all appeared on other consoles months (or even years) ago, and titles like The Croods: Prehistoric Party and First of the North Star: Kens' Rage 2 don't exactly scream "system seller."

None of this is out of the ordinary for a major console launch. After stuffing as many titles as possible up front for launch day, most systems go through a relatively fallow period as developers ramp up for the next wave of titles. Traditionally, the first quarter of a new year isn't exactly the most exciting period of time for game releases, either.

Still, the Wii U will be missing out on a lot of high-profile games coming to other systems before the end of March, including Dead Space 3, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, and Gears of War: Judgment. As Nintendo works hard to prove the Wii U's worth to all those people who got a system over the holidays, the comparison doesn't bode well.

Nintendo pulled the plug on 1st party Wii support a long time ago, so this lack of Wii U support in the launch window is inexplicable. What have their studios been doing all this time? Nintendo has franchises capable of moving hardware, and they do have a long time to get their act together, but a lack of firm announcements and release dates is ridiculous.

Nintendo pulled the plug on 1st party Wii support a long time ago, so this lack of Wii U support in the launch window is inexplicable. What have their studios been doing all this time? Nintendo has franchises capable of moving hardware, and they do have a long time to get their act together, but a lack of firm announcements and release dates is ridiculous.

They were likely busy making 3DS games instead of Wii games. Although Skyward Sword (which I thought was quite good) is barely a year old, and out after the announcement of a new console (although both were announced at E3 2011)

I bought a Wii U for one game only. That would be Monster Hunter 3 U. While yes, Japan got it as a release day title, we have to wait for localization. The article categorized it as uninspiring, I would argue that is a grossly negligent thing to say. While the series is admittedly niche due to its high difficulty, fans of the series are eagerly waiting for this latest installment. It may not be a system seller for everybody, but it is for me and every Monster Hunter fan I know. And it is certainly a system seller in Japan without any doubt.

I think only Nintendo superfans are interested in the Wii U. Having said that, for some reason, I want for Nintendo not to fail. But this news doesn't instill in me any confidence in their continued success.

I think it's obvious that SmartGlass on the Xbox 720 is going to crush anything that Nintendo has to offer with their tablet controller on the Wii U.

I don't know why Nintendo sees fit to allow dark spots in their schedules. They have to know that people buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games, so a steady stream spaced nicely is what keeps the system active.

I remember when Nintendo launched Smash Bros. Brawl in February and Wii Fit in March, then literally nothing for a year. I would have hoped they'd have these kinks worked out by now.

Nintendo pulled the plug on 1st party Wii support a long time ago, so this lack of Wii U support in the launch window is inexplicable. What have their studios been doing all this time? Nintendo has franchises capable of moving hardware, and they do have a long time to get their act together, but a lack of firm announcements and release dates is ridiculous.

They were likely busy making 3DS games instead of Wii games. Although Skyward Sword (which I thought was quite good) is barely a year old, and out after the announcement of a new console (although both were announced at E3 2011)

Nintendo's president has said that there would be big Mario and Zelda Wii U news, most likely at E3 this year. According to the same source that leaked Miiverse, they've been working on a HUGE Zelda title for the Wii U, in which the first temple (the Forest Temple) will be the size of OoT's Hyrule Field overworld area. The source also mentioned there will be dungeons so large, they'll need to incorporate "two or three in-dungeon 'checkpoints' due to their sheer size".

Only a casual gaming observer here, but does it seem to anyone else that companies are getting diminishing returns on newer console generations? I don't get the feeling that the PS3 has a lot of excitement over the PS2, and I'll bet that the new XBox will be the same way.

I want Nintendo to be successful, but I have been - and continue to be - absolutely convinced this is Nintendo's "Dreamcast", and will be their final home console effort. I hope I'm wrong. Even though I won't consider buying a U.

That being said, I wonder if they're pushing back launch dates to coincide with Sony's apparently upcoming announcement. They don't want to have nothing of importance to show when that is announced. I'm convinced the Wii U is already a failed system but if they are going to compete, they need a very strong lineup both when the new consoles are announced, and even more so when they're formally launched.

Nintendo had better pray that the PS4/Xbox720 are either super underwhelming or don't launch this year, because the WiiU is looking like Nintendo's Dreamcast.

I disagree, if only because I have a Wii U.

It is constantly in use at my house by me, my two kids, and my wife.

In fact the problem is we have too many games to play. Christmas time saw us purchase Epic Mickey (not 2!), Lego Batman (not 2!), and Nintendo Land.

We have only scratched EM and halfway through LB, NL is the perennial favorite, and half the time is spent playing the Wii versions of Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon. We have already purchased Lego Batman 2 for my son's upcoming birthday in the spring, and don't expect to be 'open' for new games until summer for my daughter's birthday, and they have already requested Epic Mickey 2 (not likely if we don't finish Epic Mickey by then), Lego City (again not likely if we haven't finished LB2 by then), Sonic Racing Transformed, Scribblenauts (likely), New Super Mario (unlikely), and the not yet released but undoubtedly requested Game & Wario, Lego Avengers, Disney Infinity, Smash Bros, and any other unannounced HD rereleases of old games such as Lego Pirates, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid, etc.

While this might be a drought for single college kids, it's a refreshingly cool pause for parents of families with the Wii U.

The GamePad is a huge success as far as I'm concerned even though its immediate utility isn't obvious or desired until you use it for awhile. Any console without it standard has a huge knock against it from me. And it HAS to have the super low latency like the Wii U or forget it.

My family has been sucking on the marrow of Nintendo Land and will be very sad once we've used up the content but it has been a great ride. I've never had a more satisfying co-op experience and this is with a 3 and 7 year old along with my wife.

Still, It's a good thing Sonic racing turned out pretty good as NSMBU isnt as great for co-op.

Can't say we are having a problem with having enough games though. We still have Just Dance 4 in a box (got it cheap) waiting until they want something new and my daughter has her eye on Scribblenauts. March is a long time to wait for LEGO City (we have the Chase McCain LEGO set and preorder minifigure) but my son is obsessed with Nintendo Land and particularly the spectacular Zelda and Metroid team games.

Seeing a bunch of "core" games miss the Wii U is a bit disheartening, though, as I want the platform to succeed even if I dont care for most of it, and don't have time for the rest (dying to play X-COM on the PC).

It certainly is a key year for the console and if some more must-haves don't start showing on the radar than console sales could drop off a cliff. That would be a shame though because the Wii U delivers new experiences along with remaining the best (by far) at pushing the potential of motion controls further.

They were likely busy making 3DS games instead of Wii games. Although Skyward Sword (which I thought was quite good) is barely a year old, and out after the announcement of a new console (although both were announced at E3 2011)

It's funny that in just February/March, the 3DS is getting Etrian Odyssey, Castlevania, Brain Age, Monster Hunter, Fire Emblem, Luigi’s Mansion and a Pokémon spinoff. Like everyone decided to wait until the end of the fiscal year to release a whole bunch of software that the 3DS could've used for the Christmas rush. But the Wii U's schedule looks sad by comparison.

And the PS3 was going to fail because of blablabla, and the Wii was going to fail because blablabla, etc etc.

QFT.

The GamePad adds a whole new dimension to games. I love it, and I can't see how Microsoft/Sony can improve on it. I mean, multitouch? How are you going to use multitouch when you have your hands on the controller already?

We get these kind of articles for basically every console ever since the internet was invented. Yes, the first year of releases for pretty much any console or handheld seems to be pretty rough. Then it usually changes by the first year or year and a half the console has launched.

I don't have a Wii U yet. I'm probably going to buy it by the end of this year... and by that time I'm pretty sure I will have at least 5 games I really want to play and a bunch of others that are better rentals. And as with basically every console I've owned. I the list will just grow larger and larger as games I want come out and games I want a bit less go down in price.

I had the same problem with the PS3 with basically nothing that I wanted besides uncharted for a long while at the price the games were new... 4 years in and suddenly I have more games I can play because they got so freaking cheap.

Kind of the same with the Vita and the 3DS. I waited for the 3DS until the price-drop, took advantage of the walmart promo and stil got my 20 virtual console games for free... a couple of months after that the console had a lot of games I wanted. The Vita I bought closer to launch because I was going to leave the US and I wanted to take advantage of the lower prices.. so I bought the Amazon promo with mortal kombat, bought a couple of used games, and then it felt like a draught was coming.. so I played my other consoles and now on december I got a bunch of games for everything because of the winter sales.

Nintendo had better pray that the PS4/Xbox720 are either super underwhelming or don't launch this year, because the WiiU is looking like Nintendo's Dreamcast.

I disagree, if only because I have a Wii U.

It is constantly in use at my house by me, my two kids, and my wife.

In fact the problem is we have too many games to play. Christmas time saw us purchase Epic Mickey (not 2!), Lego Batman (not 2!), and Nintendo Land.

We have only scratched EM and halfway through LB, NL is the perennial favorite, and half the time is spent playing the Wii versions of Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon. We have already purchased Lego Batman 2 for my son's upcoming birthday in the spring, and don't expect to be 'open' for new games until summer for my daughter's birthday, and they have already requested Epic Mickey 2 (not likely if we don't finish Epic Mickey by then), Lego City (again not likely if we haven't finished LB2 by then), Sonic Racing Transformed, Scribblenauts (likely), New Super Mario (unlikely), and the not yet released but undoubtedly requested Game & Wario, Lego Avengers, Disney Infinity, Smash Bros, and any other unannounced HD rereleases of old games such as Lego Pirates, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid, etc.

While this might be a drought for single college kids, it's a refreshingly cool pause for parents of families with the Wii U.

It sounds like you would have been better served by getting a plain old Wii for less than half the cost and fully exploring its library of heavily discounted titles. By the time you'd fully played out that system the price of a Wii U would be down by about the cost of the Wii and it would have a decent amount of discounted titles.

Since I never owned a Wii, I used its library as a justification for buying the Wii U but I'm increasingly regretting it. I should have stuck with my previous pattern of waiting for a platform to get at least a year old before making a commitment, getting the hardware refined and building up a library. This worked well for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Before that I was big on launch day purchases but the nature of my work back then made it cost effective to have first hand knowledge of the latest gear.

And the PS3 was going to fail because of blablabla, and the Wii was going to fail because blablabla, etc etc.

QFT.

The GamePad adds a whole new dimension to games. I love it, and I can't see how Microsoft/Sony can improve on it. I mean, multitouch? How are you going to use multitouch when you have your hands on the controller already?

It sounds like you would have been better served by getting a plain old Wii for less than half the cost and fully exploring its library of heavily discounted titles.

We have the Wii; as I previously stated, we got it for Nintendo Land. Half our playtime being on the Wii games is only because my wife plays Harvest Moon.

Quote:

By the time you'd fully played out that system the price of a Wii U would be down by about the cost of the Wii and it would have a decent amount of discounted titles.

I doubt it! I mean, we probably could have 'played through' all the Wii games on the list by, say, October, but I really doubt the Wii U will see a price drop this year. You're expecting a $299 Wii U to cost only $99 by this October?

Quote:

Since I never owned a Wii, I used its library as a justification for buying the Wii U but I'm increasingly regretting it. I should have stuck with my previous pattern of waiting for a platform to get at least a year old before making a commitment, getting the hardware refined and building up a library. This worked well for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Before that I was big on launch day purchases but the nature of my work back then made it cost effective to have first hand knowledge of the latest gear.

And the PS3 was going to fail because of blablabla, and the Wii was going to fail because blablabla, etc etc.

QFT.

The GamePad adds a whole new dimension to games. I love it, and I can't see how Microsoft/Sony can improve on it. I mean, multitouch? How are you going to use multitouch when you have your hands on the controller already?

By that rationale the DS touch screen is useless because you already have your hands occupied with the d-pad and buttons, leaving nothing to work the stylus.

Not every game is going to use the facilities the same. If you're doing a touch oriented game, multi-touch makes a huge difference in how you can design the input. Quite a few iOS and Android developers might have flocked to Nintendo's eShop to offer a deluge good little cheap games but many of them aren't going to bother if they need to do extensive reworking of the design. If the hardware functionality were there, Nintendo might have been able to reap some profits by offering tools like those used on AMD's AppZone for running Android apps on a PC. This would have helped a lot in making the platform less barren.

New Super Mario is worth it. The main game is not nearly as long as Mario games of past (I'd estimate maybe 1/3rd as long as Super Mario World), but the various challenge modes keep the game interesting for a long time.

Seems like the Wii U is suffering a bit of an identity crisis, and it launched with what seemed like hardly any fanfare (unlike Wii). I don't think a lot of people even know it's an improvement over the original Wii, especially once they see the same Wiimote and nunchuck. Just as an examle, a friend of mine almost bought his kids the OLD Wii for Christmas, until I told him the Wii U is the new one and that's the one to get.

Having a sad and short list of launch titles can't be helping the cause.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in Pittsburgh, PA.